Kellogg looks to new adult breakfast offerings to boost segment sales

By Alaric DeArment

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Cereal maker Kellogg Co. is hoping to appeal to adult customers with new breakfast food lines, the company said in announcing its first quarter 2013 earnings.

In a conference call with financial analysts, CEO John Bryant said the company plans to launch Raisin Bran with omega-3, multi-grain Special K and new additions to the Kashi brand later this year, citing lagging sales in the adult-products segment compared with products aimed at children.

Bryant also touted products designed to offer the nutritional value of cereal, but in more convenient forms, such as the Breakfast To Go shakes. "[When] you think about the weakness in the cereal category, we're also doing things to give people the benefits of cereal outside that normal definition of ready-to-eat cereal," Bryant said during the call.

The company posted sales of $3.9 billion for the quarter, which marked a 12.2% increase over first quarter 2012. Profits were $311 million, a 13% decrease from last year. The company said it would meet its fiscal year 2013 guidance.

Sales for the North America segment were $2.6 billion, an 8.1% increase over first quarter 2012, including 1.6% sales growth for the breakfast foods segment in the United States and a 1.7% decline for the U.S. snacks segment, with the "North America Other" segment — which includes U.S. frozen foods and the company's Canadian business — showing 7.4% sales growth.

"Results in the first quarter were broadly as we expected, and we're pleased to have a solid start to the year," Bryant said in a statement. "We saw good comparable revenue growth in many regions around the world, and the Pringles business continued to post strong results."